Monday, December 18, 2006

Saturday's show was the last of the year and was started off by the track everybody's been caning, the Audion remix of Hot Chip's "No Such Thing." Like "Mouth to Mouth" it's not particularly quick off the mark and seems to plod it's way towards relative inconclusion and it could go on forever if given half a chance, but Matthew Dear does seem to be rewriting the sonic rule book through the inclusion of some quite mind-bending sounds in his recent work that seem to contract, constrict, expand and explode in complete harmony with an implicit discord. What the fuck am I on about? I know so make up your own minds. They do what it says on the tin though, and intellectualizing this stuff makes you sound like you've got a one-way ticket up your own arse, so listen up and get dancing.

Swanned along to the Box Tree straight after the show for Jonny Davies' Horseplay Records party and met a few heads. Robin, Justin and Ed from Baadger Attack were there, as well as Mark Henning, who gave me some advance promos of stuff to be released in the New Year, so expect one of those tracks on the first show of next year. Dave Kelso, who's had tracks played on my last couple of broadcasts, finally picked up his copy of "Fear and Lothian" by The Wee DJs, which he won at least six months ago, and also played an interesting set that veered from house in the shape of Natural Rhythm, to techno in the shape of Alexi Delano on Plus 8. Middle-age is coming to meet me with a scythe and knobbly knees, so I left at a very early hour. I'll be back causing mayhem next Saturday though, at The Geldart. Oh, and Jonny hopes that Horseplay will find a monthly home at the Box Tree. The next night there will be on January 6th 'o7, hopefully with yours truly manning the decks.

2Fiveonine - Octogen (Soma) is shimmering machine funk of the highest quality. It all seemed to make perfect sense when we were driving back from Calais last weekend and the post-industrial landscape of lamps on prehensile stalks stretched out as far as the eye could see above the platforms were the cross-channel shuttle was waiting for us to board. I've also taken delivery of Fabric 32 - Luke Slater (Fabric) which is better than I thought it would be. I didn't think it was going to be bad, rather the inclusion of a few of the last year's stalwarts (Full Clip, A Bit Patchy, Here, Mouth to Mouth) might have made it a bit predictable. Luke Slater hasn't been around this long and kept his street cred under wraps for nothing though, and it's an honest mix, in the same way as Dirk Kuyt is an honest centre forward, and Alan Curbishly's West Ham can be expected to play "honestly." In other words, it's all good.

As I write, Alan Curbishly's West Ham are leading the Mancs 1-0. Honestly . . .

And I almost forgot. Saturday's show featured a competiton to win Sven vath's latest Cocoon competition "The Sound of the Seventh Season." To win one of two comments leave a comment on this blog with full contact details and the correct answer to this question: Which other famous dj was Sven Vath filmed canoodling with recently?

Sitting in front of the telly having stayed in the previous night is not my idea of an ideal Sunday afternoon. I should have gone to Bottom Heavy last night but decided not to in the end. There are quite a few things coming up this month, not least Christmas, but bigger developments are on the horizon and an upheaval of major proportions is about to take place. Another kid and a new home (probably). I suppose it'll keep me off the streets.

So, no photos from B.Heavy, but I'l be back for the next one, stronger and hungrier. A few things going on in Cambridge this month. On the 16th we've got a party for the launch of the just released "Oliver's Twisted/Stable Boy" by Le Jockey on Horseplay records. There's a strong quadruped association about this one. Jockey hasn't been making music long but his enthusiasm is an example to us all. For the last month he's been crisscrossing the nation with a box of 12" in his boot pushing his wares on unsuspecting record shops old school stylee. It has, at the very least gained places on both Juno's and Phonica's websites, which is nice.

There's a little get-together of sorts at the Cellar Bar (I think) on the 14th, featuring Dave Kelso (track featured in last night's show, see below), Robin Howells, etc; and another Le Jockey evening at The Geldart on the 23rd. There's also a festive Badger Attack, but in Camden, not Cambridge, on the 22nd. The Priory are busy this month with the aptly named "Silent Night Silent Disco" featuring Sam I Am and The Fish as well as the Silent Disco DJ's taking p;lace at The Junction on the 9th. "Silent Disco" is so-called because the music will be relayed by modern technology through the headphones of the punters and not through a sound system. "Imagine the scene . . .1000 clubbers dancing to nothing-well apart from what they can hear through their headphones!" says the flier. 1000 clubbers! They had 18 for "Product a couple of weeks ago. 1000 in The Junction? For The Priory's sake I hope so, but I just can't see it somehow. Anyway I'll be in Calais on a booze and foie gras cruise. Future Priory dates for your diary are Touche in January and the excellent Paul Woolford in February. Can't remember the dates but it's normally the third week of the month on a Thursday. "Do the math . . ." as they say. I really want to see Wooly, but I know as soon as my back is turned that, providing it hasn't already happened, the sprog will drop. Time will tell.

This show will be available on the archive here, probably from 5/12 onwards, but check it before. Jim Masters mixed up a storm, thanks very much Jim. Hope everything went well last night and Colin Dale did you proud. Oh, and there was an excellent competition on the show. Two questions, one to win a copy of the new Galaxy to Galaxy compilation and one to win the new Underground Resistance cd "Interstellar Fugitives 2. The Destruction of Order" along with a dvd documenting the making of the album.

For the Galaxy to Galaxy cd, the question is "How Many Members are in Galaxy to Galaxy?"

For the UR cd the question is"Which three individuals are credited with forming Underground Resistance?"

The answers will go into my metaphorical hat and be drawn out on New Years Day. You can enter by leaving a comment on this blog, but please leave your name and email address as well.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

I love a good lecture me, but I'd really like to know how Dr David Starkey can stand with the backs of his hands facing the viewer . . . all the time! Don't take my word for it, watch his excellent and informative series "Monarchy," C4 every Monday at 21:00.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

18 people turned up for Product at The Junction last Saturday, 18!!!!!!!!!!! (See comment for previous post).You can't take anything for granted in Cambridge. Starved as we are of good house and techno, you still have to promote your arse off. The Junction would have had a much more respectable turnout with the right amount of advertising. I didn't even see a flyer.

Thanks to Alland Byallo who got on touch with me regarding an older playlist. It's no problem supporting your music Alland when it's so good. Just a reminder. I can't respond privately to comments unless contact details are included therein.

Did anyone see that war party of chimps cannibalizing a rival mob in the Ugandan jungle on "Life on Earth" last Sunday night? And to think they're our closest genetic relatives. Jeez!

Monday, November 20, 2006

I went to The Priory at The Fez a few nights ago. After the success of last months installment with James Lavelle I was expecting the place to be doing brisk business. It was doing business but not too briskly. The boys stumped up a lot of money for this one but the discerning Cambridge clubber decided not to show equal dedication to the cause and stayed away. XPress 2 played some of the best music I've heard in Cambridge all year. Maybe this was because we are starved of this kind of house fare that most other towns above and beyond a reasonable size take for granted, maybe it was becuase I have a lot of the records and it was an exercise in mutual good taste. In any case, it's difficult to find fault with the content when it gets off to such a good start. Ricardo Villalobo's mix of DM's "The Sinner in Me" being the case in point. A groove was laid down full of peaks and troughs and while, for yours truly, this is the only way to get the party started, it's not that common in Cambridge. I know I don't get out enough, but I do like to maximise my chances of enjoying good music when I do. Tunes like "Mouth to Mouth," "Give Me a K" and "Doppelwhipper" aren't heard often enough in clubs like the Fez, and that doesn't just go for Cambridge, but up and down the country.

A new night started at The Junction last night. "Product" is apparently promoted by some guys off an american air base. They've already put on parties in Nottingham at Stealth and last night brought Mr C and Audiofly to town. I didn't go but I hope it went well for them. Audiofly were promoting their new "Undulations 2" cd, which is very good. Colin Dale is in town for "Bottom Heavy" Jim Masters' and Largo's night which is now happening at the ARU Academy, having previously been at the Soul Tree. Hopefully Jim will remember our conversation Thursday night and sort out a mix from Colin for my next show, which will go out just before the gig. Other forthcoming highlights include a guest appearance and interview with Mark Henning, hopefully before Christmas, if not, shortly after. He's in Berlin next weekend, playing at the Panorama Bar at a Foundsound party, so I'll be hitting him up for a match report on that a few days later.

Quality over quantity always, but from this week posts will become more frequent as I attempt to tenuously link developments in modern electronic music to just about everything of any importance ever .

Monday, November 06, 2006

The first of November falls like an iron curtain across Europe. OK, that's enough of the cold war similes, but it's true. It's bloody freezing getting up for work at the moment. Anyway, I should have enough to keep me company during the long British winter. I've just invested in a pair of CDJ200s. I can't afford the more expensive CDJ1000s or even the 800s. The others may look better on paper, but I'm confident mine will look great once they're up and running. What do I want to be able to do with them? Mix and play back mp3s. The auxiliary bollocks is all embellishment as far as I'm concerned. They should be arriving tomorrow. Christmas has come early.

I had to get them now because I'm going to become a father again in February and the egg chamber will have to be constantly replenished with fresh nutrients.

Musically things have never looked better. I'm definitely one for living in the present while cocking a reverential snoop to the past. But the music keeps on surprising me and filling me with childlike wonder and excitement. That Detroit's influence is as strong as ever has been recently noted in these columns, labels like Delsin, Rush Hour and Styrax Leaves keeping the (european) home fires burning. What's also not gone unnoticed is the morphology inherent in a lot of current techno to stretch to infonity and beyond. Check Philip Sherburne's "The Month in Techno" (October installment) for more on this. He puts it more eloquently than I can. I just think that it's more evidence of the survival of "real" electronic trance and its teutonic heritage. Trance as an adjective, not as a disturbing plastic genre nurtured by the likes of Perfecto, etc . . . Anyway, as he says in his article "it's easier to understand . . . . if you can listen along. . . ."

Radioslave aks Matt Edwards is a more than ubiquitous presence these days, which could be tiresome where it not for the fact that practically everything he turns his hand to is excellent. Along with Ewan Pearson Edwards seems to be becoming the remixer's remixer, showing a depth of understanding across genres that you don't encounter every year, no matter every day. I bought his new mix on Eskimo "Creature of the Night" yesterday which, along with the forthcoming "Fabriclive 31 The Glimmers" nicely provides the mashup heads amongst us with some organised chaos for mid-autumn. Personally I like to make my own sushi while listening to this stuff as the collision of genres is nicely reflected by what's on my plate, an absolute fucking mess. My mum bought me a sushi making kit for my birthday last year (no, she's not upper-middle class and lives in Knutsford) and I ended up using it for the first time over a year later, last Saturday. You need a sharp knife to cut that stuff to stop rice ejaculation from nori. I don't keep Japanese style cutlery in the home though. I', a father with a strong sense of fear and foreboding and I don't want to be pinioned to my bed by Lilliputians demanding "hotwheels or death" on pocket money days. The sins of the father shall not be revisited on the father by the sons ta very much.

XPress 2 are playing the Fez for The Priory on the 16/11, which should be a good night out for all. Apparently they've insisted on two 1210s each and two CDJ100s each, which will make a grand total of six turntables and the same of CDJs. They'd better be good because they don't come cheap either. Sam from the Priory will be guesting on my next show, so his mental state will be interesting to assess. Will he have sweaty palms and be prone to speaking like Gareth Davies on crack? Only time will tell.

Also, with absolutely no promotion whatsoever and, therefore guaranteed to be poorly supported by native residents, The Junction are putting on a new night two days after The Priory, featuring Mr C and Audiofly. I sincerely hope it's packed to the rafters but looking at the amount of promotion the Priory have to do to get their crowd in gives me serious cause for concern. If any of the parties concerned are reading this blog, bring a few coach loads up with you, you're going to need them.

I'm still not online at home, which is limiting my output. I hope to have this sortedvery soon.

Monday, October 30, 2006

I'm trying to be a little bit more regular so what happens? I only go to me old queen's for a week with my lad and have to put everything off for a week innit. Anyway, here's the last playlist a week late.

And, as always, I gave away more free things. This time it was a couple of copies of the latest installment of "At The Controls." James Holden did vol.1 earlier this year and M.A.N.D.Y. have just done vol 2. The question that can win you a copy of this double cd set is piss-easy. What is the name of the label, named after an Olivia Newton-John classic, that M.A.N.D.Y. record on? Interested, then leave a comment after this piece, with full contact details.

Like I said, I was on family business last week so I took advantage to go to Manchester and attend the third Saturday of the Warehouse Project which featured a Detroit love-in courtesey of Los Hermanos, Octave One, Suburban Knight, DJ 3000 and Robert Hood. Jamie Liddell, the Unabombers etc were to be found in the other room, but I didn't ant to pass up some prime Detroit cuts so I kept my eyes firmly fixed towards the stage where the big "UR" screens were flickering, tried to take some photos - see amateur efforts above. I had a good time, but this was no thanks to the inferior sound quality of the venue, which at one point reminded me and my mates of a large scale school disco. The sound did seem to pick up when the djs were playing sets and, inexplicably seemed to get better the more the night wore on. This was unfortunate for Los Hermanos who came on after Mr Scruff and Mark Flash who must have lost weight gesticulating to the sound men. I said "inexplicably" because I've never understood what's in it for the audience to have successive acts sound better than each other, and I doubt the Detroit lads need to compete with their egos. Having said that, it could simply have been a situation trying to get progressively better due to the sterling efforts of the sound engineers. Another thing that annoyed me was deciding to get some laughing gas only to find that it had sold out. Anyway, as said before I had a good time and that's the most important thing, but I think it could have been better.

I've heard the new Repeat, Repeat album on Soma. It's called 'Squints" and it's a wobbly, off-kilter collection of tracks that pushes techno in the right direction. Dave Congreve, half of Repeat, Repeat is one of the country's best djs but it's a long time sonce I've heard a set by him. If anyone has any links to online mixes by him, please drop me a line to machines@209radio.co.uk.

Oh, and I took Hector, one of my boys, to his first match, a 4-3 victory for the mighty Reds against Reading in the Carling Cup. A full house, seven goals (all sublime from the Reds), a comeback from Reading that had nerves frayed, he won't forget that in a hurry.

There were a couple of competitions on Saturday's show. Here's the breakdown:

First comp: First prize, a pair of tickets to see A Guy Called Gerald at the Warehouse Project, Manchester on the 27/10, plus "Proto Acid - The Berlin Sessions" cd - A Guy Called Gerald (Laboratory Instinct).

Second prize, a copy of "Proto Acid - The Berlin Sessions" cd.

Full line-up

Question: A Guy Called Gerald's main claim to fame is as the artist behind which acid house anthem from the late '80's?

Second Comp:Prizes, two copies of In Flagranti's debut cd "Wronger Than Anyone Else" (Codek)

Question: One of In Flagranti's influences, (according to the press release), Patrick Cowley, remixed which famous disco track by Donna Summer?

Both of the competition cds were reviewed on this very blog by yours truly in the summer. If you want a gander, plunge into the archives.

Meanwhile, those very kind people at Fabric sent me an advance copy of Marco Carola's new mix cd, due out in the UK on the 13/11/06 and a month later in the US. It's really very good too. Mr Carola manages to keep things taut, bass-driven and funky throughout, without compromising his musical integrity. Listening to this cd made me think of sweaty railway arches and messy after parties. Marco used to be known for the three-deck pyrotechnics beloved of Jeff Mills, with a similar loopy disposition, but this mix while being unashamedly techno has house's best interest at heart too. The inclusion of artists such as Chris Carrier and Marek Bois are testament to this, and the likes of Fraktion, Marc Houle, Audio Werner and Dolly La Parton (Alex Under) help take things a stage further into the stratosphere. The mix kicks off proper though, with the second track by Erik Otanabe. There's a misprint on my press release, so I don't know the track name, only that it's probably an Eclat and Prudo remix on Minisketch.

God, forgot to do a chart for the first time in a while. I must keep up the obsessive good work by not only covering last month, but this month too. Expect a similarly fastidious post again, on the same subject, before the end of October.

On this weeks "Machines Are Funky" there'll be two competitions to win two copies each of the new A Guy Called Gerald cd "Proto Acid The Berlin Sessions" and In Flagranti's "Wronger Than Anyone Else." Also, the cream of new electro, techno and house featuring new music from, amongst others, The Knife, Barem, Isolee, From Karaoke To Stardom, Cobblestone Jazz/Matthew Jonson and many, many more

In addition to the "A Guy Called Gerald" cds, I'll also be giving away a pair of tickets for his night at The Old Boddington's Brewery, which is part of The Warehouse Project.

Monday, September 25, 2006

I wasn't happy with Saturday's show. Truth be told, I'm becoming more and more cantankerous about everything in general and nothing in particular. I'm currently a hybrid of Victor Meldrew and J G Ballard, someone I'm really starting to warm to. I've got into Ballard rather late, but after the excellent South Bank Show last week, better late than never. I'll be starting "Kingdom Come" this week.

Anyway, I digress. Saturdays show was quite strong content-wise, but not so strong in the mixing dept. I decided to do a short mix but completely forgot that one of the turntables was quartz-locked, which made mixing impossible until I realised what the problem was, thus an Ableton-inspired take on modern mixing, only with turntables, which should have cut and chopped and scratched its way through about ten tracks in thirty or forty minutes became a few tunes sequed together without my weary tones to add interesting facts.

I was out on Thursday 21/9 at the Fez to check out Justin Robertson. I couldn't stay for all his set, but liked what I heard, apart from the general sound, which seemed to distort very easily. It wasn't anything like as clear as I'd heard when I saw Adam Freeland there in July. The crowd was down to. A pity because Mr Robertson is an excellent and constantly unsung DJ, as well as being a quite credible recording artist. A member of "Loinrock" as it said on the flier. Cue visions of amorphous tuna steaks belting out tunes in a parallel universe. Next up is James Lavelle on October 12th. The week after I may be up in Manchester for one of the Warehouse Project dates, the 21/10 sees Los Hermanos and Suburban Knight both live, as well as Robert Hood's Grey Area. Should be good watching a cross-section of the minimal maestro's brain and spinal column flopping around in a formaldehyde-filled DJ bubble. Hope he plays "The Pace."

Further dates for your diary in Cambridge Techno City. Jim Masters tells me that Green Velvet and Rolando could be playing "Bottom Heavy" at The Soul Tree. Mr Velvet next month I think, Rolando maybe before Chrimbo. James Priestly could be at Luke Mallia's (Smutt's) night at The Fountain on Regent Street. Tom Hallmark and Largo are starting up a new Sunday afternoon/eveningthing at The BoxTree and Ed of Badger Attack is currently searching for a new venue with Kittenflux's Dave Kelso. Incidentally, Kittenflux and Pacemaker supposedly had a party in the Grantchester meadows last night. I hope some farmcore featured. Who cares as long as they kept Mary Archer awake all night.

Oh, and before I forget, I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets pissed off very easily at the goons who are employed as "security" at clubs. These people stop me going out as often as I'd like, and then seem intent on treating me like a fifteen year-old once I'm out. The twats tried to charge me to get into the Fez on Thursday night. Even though I was clearly on the list their minimised intellects insisted on doing battle with my colossal cerebellum. Next time I go I'm taking Robert Hood's Grey Area with me.

Monday, September 11, 2006

It's an interesting time for music at the moment. For the first time in a while, techno seems to be popular, or becoming so, in the UK. If we're really honest it's never really caught on outside a few enclaves like Voodoo in Liverpool, The Orbit in Yorkshire, Lost in London and Club 69 in Glasgow. OK, I know other places have always veered that way, Slam at The Arches and that place in Birmingham where Surgeon had a residency to name but two, but somehow music that has always layered the electronic music matrix has burst out all over like a ripe carbuncle and sprayed its minimal pus on the overground. I suppose every things time comes eventually, and I'm by no means sure that this current proliferation is an entirely good thing.

In any case, what I'm saying is hardly news, it's been smouldering now for the last few years. Funky house seems to have been killed off once and for all, along with funky techno, the type pushed by labels like In-Tec, to make way for an electrotechhousehybrid. I'm certainly not one to rampantly start pigeonholing everything which comes my way. As far as I'm concerned good and bad music are the only two genres worth discussing, but as far as the mainstream is concerned, these are relatively interesting times.

Check out the new Cassy mix cd "Panorama Bar 01" (Ostgut ton) for an interesting ride through some examples of the sounds that are currently heading down the right strasse.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Went to see Carl Craig last night at The Soul Tree and very good it was too. I'm having trouble recalling specific details though, but I can confirm that, amongst other tunes, he did play "Strings of Life" or something that sounded like it anyway. I think he edited it live. "Quelle surprise" I hear you say, but his set wasn't quite as predictable as I'm making out. It was a good night, but not quite as well attended as Derrick May last Mayday bank holiday. Mr Craig used Ableton and CDJs, not laying his hand on one piece of vinyl. Thanks to Jim Masters and Largo for bringing him here and for supporting him well.

Had a text off the mad Irishman this morning proclaiming "This is the real deal." Anxious to find out more, I hastily called him to discover that he was lost in a k-hole in the T-Bar in Shoreditch having just heard Matt Styles play a set and starting to appreciate Jamie Jones, whose style he described as "homosexual Terry Francis," or something similar. I was astounded to get anything coherent out of him at all, although the conversation was typically one-way, something that he took pains to advise me of. It was both illuminating and vitriolic. "Faith" got a coating for their treatment of those privileged enough to be on the guest list, as well as pulling Damian Lazarus off the decks thirty minutes early in order to end the night with some "classics." Music these days needs edge, it's boring otherwise. We want it deep, scary and full to the medulla with narcotics. Happiness, who gives a toss? If I want to be happy I'll get my Ballimorey dvd out. I want to be scared shitless while I'm dancing. I see a new genre emerging where electro and minimalism combine to great effect to create something not unlike the "darkcore" mentality that used to be prevalent in drum and bass. The scene needs its "Mr Kirk's Nightmare." Who's going to come up with it?

Here's the playlist from last Saturday's (26/8/06) Machines Are Funky:

These are not exactly new, but they are a true representation of what I've been playing recently.

A Thing Of Beauty Is A Joy Forever - Technasia (Technasia):

Detroit via France and Hong Kong. Euphoric excellence.

Dump Truck - Cobblestone Jazz (Wagon Repair):

Matthew Jonson continues to impress. Just when you thought there might be something he can't turn his hand to, he goes out and makes hypnotic techno with live instruments. Bleepy and evocative.

Street Knowledge - Tobias (Logistic):

Veteran of a thousand mix cds. This track has popped up everywhere recently. Simple driving techno with a cliched vocal sample that does exactly what it says on the tin to devastating effect.

Rekorder 6 (Rekorder):

Rekorder are purveyors of disturbed, stark minimal electro. If you like it, you'll buy it. The man from his k-hole, he say "yes!"

Crazy (Paradise edit) - Rude Hagelstein (Less):

This has been out for a year or so, but I've only recently found out what it is. First heard it as the opening track off an Ivan Smagghe live set from October '05. Vocals are used to good effect to cause fear in the heart of the listener. This is the type of stuff they play to you in purgatory when they're pretending to be "nice."

My Nightlight (Dapayk remix) - Alland Byallo (Nightlight): Remix of a track that first surfaced a couple of years ago. Dapayk is the master of sleaze.

Mandolina (Robert Babicz remix) - Felix Houzer (Out Of Orbit):

Every set needs a few spinal columns to support its more outlandish extravagances. This is one good set of vertebrae.

One step beyond the previous track mentioned. Space is the place as far as this production is concerned. It's as interesting for what happens between the beats as the music itself.

Newbe (Heartthrobs Are You Gay? remix) - Dario Zenker (Esperanza):

God knows why the remix is called what it is. What am I supposed to be thinking of when I listen to this track, muscle marys in chaps with their arses showing? I hope not. It reminds me of a gang of frogs on a tightrope actually, and it's ace.

Oliver's Twisted - Jonny Davies (to be released on Pacemaker): Support your local talent alert. Jonny's come quite far in a short amount of time and will only get better. This is the only track by him that has a name at the moment, so it gets an honorary inclusion.

Mix CD of the Month:

Fliederlieder - Tobi Neumann (Cocoon):

In an already over saturated market this mix shows control, purpose and thought. Have yet to hear Magda's, and I've heard that Cassy's is excellent. But Tobi rules for the moment.

Monday, August 14, 2006

I've started to feel a bit disconnected from events lately. The family's gone on holiday and there hasn't been much going on, apart from the "Flex" party a couple of weeks ago. I'm alone and it's no fun. You always look forward to it though. Those non-commital days, full of endless possibilities which dissolve before you as you choose a life of sloth to appease your burnt-out self.

Anyway, its a far from desirable state of affairs. The radio show is in need of some serious attention too. Events have overtaken me. I'm going to be a father once again and, while I'm looking forward to it, the economics of the situation aren't too appealing. Still, I've got a good Dominik Eulberg mix on at the moment and "The Chase" is pulsating away around me. "Hit those filters!"

Good show last night, everything went smoothly and, although I'm still unable to mix on-air,(only one turntable in the studio at the moment, we're having a raffle to raise money for a new one, as well as a new mixer), production values have to be kept high and track selection, and, more importantly when not mixing for two hours, programming, has to be impeccable. Not everyone may agree with me when they see the playlist, but I think things went well.

A few good nights out to be had in the coming weeks. First is Erol Alkan's visit to The Fez this Thursday, the 17th, playing alongside Priory ressies Sam I Am and The Fish. Bank Holiday weekend kicks off on Friday night at The Fountain on Regent's St wit the visit of Baby G of Eskimo Records from Belgium, support comes from Luke Mallia (Smutt) and Pete Lever. A little bird told me that Tim "Love" Lee will be popping in to lay for an hour as well. On the Sunday we've got the "It's a Bit 2 Fishy" boat party on the Thames. Ressies Pete Lever, Largo and Jonny Davies are to be joined by guests from Madrid and Rome. Finally back in Cambridge, the one and only Carl Craig plays "Bottom Heavy" at The Soul Tree, supported by Jim Masters and Largo. Miss that one at your peril.

I'll try as soon as possible to get back to more regular posting, but not being online chez moi for the past two and a half months does take its toll. More photos are coming too, although I'm going to have to try and borrow a camera for this Thursday at The Fez. A chart will be in place, I hope, by the end of the week. Keep it locked.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

I still don’t know how I got home from it, must be getting older I suppose, and I didn’t even stay that late. I’m talking of course, about the great ‘Flex” party held last Saturday night in a warehouse off Coldhams Lane in Cambridge. I spoke and blathered to and at people I knew and some I’d never seen before. It’s a real novelty to have this sort of gathering in Cambridge, but it still took nearly an hour to get home, due in no small part to me getting lost on the way out of the industrial estate where the venue was situated. So drunk was I that I staggered around in circles for about forty minutes, going down every dead end I could. Should have made amusing viewing for the security staff I suppose.

Friday, July 21, 2006

A funny thing happened to me the other day. I received two artist album cds that each contain tons of tracks. They were “Wronger Than Anyone Else” by In Flagranti and “Proto Acid The Berlin Sessions” by A Guy Called Gerald. What made their receipt all the sweeter is that they are both brilliant.

‘Wronger . . .” weighs in with a hefty seventeen tracks, but Gerald’s has twenty four. I was only familiar with one In Flagranti track beforehand, the pitched up excellence of “Just Gazing” which is one of the tracks that opens Ivan Smagghe’s brilliant “How To Kill The DJ Vol.1” (Tigersushi). All the tracks are quite short, no longer than three to four minutes and incorporate a huge amount of decadence and sleaziness. From the medieval italo synths that open the album on “Are You Ready” (which could have come from any amount of places off either of IF’s two brilliant “Mixed Up In The Hague” compilations) , to the electro disco of “Incarnation,”the hillbilly techno of “Eight Consecutive Life Terms” and the euphoric funk of “Escapade,” there is no filler. This is essentially a compilation of earlier released tracks from the previous eighteen months, plus some other stuff. There are no gaps between tracks so the cd sounds like a meticulously – programmed unmixed dj set. There’s Gary Glitter in there too in “Futile Attempt.” I hope that doesn’t put you off though. It’s excellent.

“Marching Powder” kicks off “Proto Acid . . . “ and from then on in we’re in the miasmic world of A Guy Called Gerald. Gerald actually started his recording career in my home town, bringing out his first album “Hot Lemonade” and I think early editions of “Voodoo Ray” on Wallasey label Rham records. His mid-nineties album “Black Secret Technology” was by far the most futuristic take on drum and bass up to that time. So futuristic in fact that in my opinion it bore little resemblance to the genre it was pigeonholed in. It was one of the best from that decade and difficult to improve upon. Not that I think he’s been trying to do that with ‘Proto Acid . . . “ Coincidentally it plays like “Wronger Than . . .” with minute, or no track breaks, but I suppose for the most part the tracks mix into each other, acting as continuations of those previous, (a mix of sorts, if you will.) And, like In Flagranti, he’s gone for a collection of tracks that are aimed squarely at the dancefloor.

I think Gerald’s lp is superb as well. It’s upfront and raw. He called it proto acid because “ . . .it’s how I feel house/techno music would have sounded if the whole rave thing hadn’t happened in England.” Well, I guess we’ll never know, and if my aunty had a dick she’d be my uncle. Then he goes on to say “ . . . when I say proto acid I’m saying this stuff has a direct lineage to Chicago and Detroit in the mid-to-late eighties.”
That’s undeniably true, but it also sounds very European. To me it’s a more polished version of what I have always understood to be played at high volume in muddy fields across Europe at the many raves that still flourish there, France’s Teknivals, to name but a few. It’s better for the polish though.

Monday, July 17, 2006

So, I finally went to the Fez last Thursday. Sam and James from the Priory were playing supporting Adam Freeland. I had work the next day, so didn’t make it to the end, but enjoyed myself while I was there. What to say, good, lively crowd for a Thursday night but more to the point good club and sound. Sam and James played till midnight and then came Adam Freeland. To call him a breaks dj would be missing the point I think. He’s a meticulous set programmer and encompasses a lot more than most. Anyway, I liked him and I’m not a great breaks fan, so you get the point. I also heard he got married last week in Ibiza, so congrats!

The latest episode of “Machines Are Funky” was aired to the world last night from 209 Towers in the heart of Cambridge, and once again I found myself on the receiving end of some technical problems. I must be a jinx. I’d decided to do a mix for the second hour which, in the end, only lasted about forty minutes because the clutch went on the remaining Numark deck, the other one having gone during another one of my shows a few weeks back. I noticed a lack of control with the offending article as I was mixing in my second track but managed to keep things together until the power cut during my penultimate tune. As luck would have it this happened during a breakdown which mimics the effect of a record slowing to a standstill (something I fondly recall Laurent Garnier often doing when I used to go and check him at his monthlies chez The Rex). I picked my spot and cued the last track in.Listen to the archive here.

Oh, and next month Erol Alkan’s coming to town for the Priory. Better report and pictures will ensue, plus I’m going to try and get an interview.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

So I made the journey over to Barca for Sonar weekend. Arrived Thursday afternoon and left Monday morning. Stayed with friends (thanks Olivier & Valerie) and partied on the beach. We didn’t club at all but went out every night to parties organised by cousin Mathieu, who is currently working for Andy Cato of Groove Armada fame. This blog is long overdue, and I’ve forgotten the minor details, but the first night it belted down, we went to a restaurant, ate fideoa (I think that’s how you spell it. It’s squid ink spaghetti, cut small and served with loads of seafood in a paella dish thingie), and I saw the biggest cockroach in my life which crawled across the backs of two women after flying off Olivier’s back. I thought it was an Atlas Moth at first. I suppose it had been blown over from Africa and came back to Earth during the storm. It was huge and when I get my new computer next week, and have a bit more time, I’ll post some pictures of the beast it most closely resembles.Anyway, I digress. Friday night Olivier, who records on Fiat Lux as Exotica, was due to do a pa. We took a taxi filled with his gear (which was almost fifty times more massive than Alex Smoke’s the next night) down to the beach. Scarlett Etienne was playing when we arrived, but not for too long, we maybe caught about twenty minutes of her set. After her Quiroga of Titbit records from Italy played. He was very good so I chatted to him and he’s sending me some stuff to play on my show. A very nice man indeed. Olivier then stepped up, but was beset by technical problems almost from the start. He had to stop after about twenty minutes of constant tinkering with his equipment. I’m still not sure what the exact problem was, but maybe there was too much humidity? His equipment worked fine when we got it back to the flat. Olivier, post a comment and remind me what exactly went wrong. Next up were Audiofly who played a solid set after a slow start.The Saturday, saw Rolando play. I’ve been told I was harassing him, but at least I kept on my feet, unlike Olivier who crawled into bed early. Spoke to Lars Sandberg (Funk d’Void), who lives out there and is a friend of Olivier’s, Valerie’s and Mathieu’s. Met Dave from Soma who gave me a few cds. Thanks very much to him for them.On the Sunday Alex Smoke played, and was excellent, but it only went on for half an hour. Elmer Schubert had been on before him, and was excellent too, but any mood which had been carefully built up came crashing down when Andy Cato got on the decks. The crowd loved it, but I didn’t, and he played for a long time. I sound like a right miserablist, which isn’t true. The crowd loved it, and it was a good party, but I didn’t enjoy the music. Big tune after big tune very British house. Not my cup of tea.I had a great time though. Also got to the Kompakt party and caught a bit of Michael Mayer and Koze’s sets, Get Physical were another hundred metres or so further on, everyone kept dancing all weekend, great paella (as always ) at Olivier and Valerie’s . . .roll on next year!

Monday, June 05, 2006

A ducks-eye-view of Strawberry Fair.

So, Strawberry Fair was on Saturday, and 209 broadcast from the Arts Tent for the whole day. “Machines . . . “ went out at its usual time, 7-9pm, with Pete Lever (local Cambridge dj and all-round nice person on the local scene) providing the guest mix between 8 and 9. Playlist for the first hour below. I didn’t get Pete’s tunes on paper, as I was producing for him at the time and had to keep focussed on the mixing desk. He played some good stuff though, fragments of which are listed.

Was in Paris last week and bought the new mix cd on Kill The DJ, “The Dysfunctional Family” which is mixed by Chloe and Ivan Smagghe. God it’s slash yer wrists, suicidal stuff. Ivan’s shaved off his beard and looks like some sort of defrocked medieval court jester. Sleeve notes refer to his “gender being fucked-up . . .” or something like that. Various comparisons between “gender” and “genre,” make for an uncomfortable listening experience. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like it though.

I’m writing this from the computer at work for the next few weeks, as the domestic one has broken down. Posts will not be as frequent as I’d like, but it’s Sonar next week, and the show is going every two weeks from now. A new powerbook in July methinks, and then things will really take off.

Oh’ and big thanks to Pete for organising the afternoon at the Standard on Mill Road yesterday, Where I played, from 4 to 5.

Friday, May 19, 2006

Cambridge is the new Berlin!

A couple of days ago I was sitting in the window of Café Brazil on Mill Rd when who should walk in but Mark Henning. He had a heavily bandaged hand, and told me that he was just getting his life in order (probably a little dramatic, that) after having left his job. He was also looking forward to playing Jena tonight, for Freude-am Tanzen, and Watergate in Berlin tomorrow, which he described as probably “the biggest gig of my life.” Due to go on around 4am tomorrow, he should catch Berlin at it’s most lively. Hope it goes well for him.

A word about Legends at Cambridge City FC. Badger Attack was supposed to be on tonight, but was cancelled yesterday by Legends. No licence and a complete lack of organisation is the answer I’m afraid. Unfortunately there isn’t much else in Cambridge. The scene up to now has been building up a nice bit of momentum over the past year, but now it is in danger of gathering moss. I know that Jonny aka “Le Jockey,” is amongst a secret cabal charged with building a sound system for the place, so there is yet hope.

A chart will be posted over the next couple of days, as well as any other news deemed worth mentioning. Watch this space.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Oh, just to make sure there’s something cheerful to kick off with. Great Cup Final yesterday. The man above was the difference.

There is a terrible shortage of decent venues in Cambridge. A fact underlined by the cancellation, earlier this week, of The Priory’s May Ball. Originally scheduled for last night on Cambridge City Football pitch, the soiree, organised through the ubiquitous Legend’s Bar, had been flyered for a month and was due to take place under a marquee on the football pitch, not in the bar. Of course, the venue forgot to ask the groundsman until a few days before. When asked the groundsman probably said something like “a marquee on a football pitch that we almost certainly can’t afford to re turf filled with 400 or so sweaty ravers, are you mad?” And so I received a text on Wednesday telling me it was off. This is the turd on the cake, following on, as it does, from the first Obvious being double-booked, and the last Badger Attack having no bar and closing an hour early. We need another venue, and quickly.

Tonight we’ve got Josh Wink at Bottom Heavy. Following on from Derrick May two weeks ago, another heavyweight of the one’s and two’s makes his way to Cambridge to star in Jim Master’s and Largo’s Sunday night shebang. Mr Wink has, in my opinion, always been a better dj than producer, and has always maintained a high, twisted standard behind the decks. He’s in town to promote his contribution to the Ministry’s “Sessions” series. Should be good.

Some labels which are doing it for me at the moment: Einmaleins,Mobilee and Foundsound. Many more of course, but these three are ones that I check all the time and seem to have forged their own sound, each of which offers a subtle twist on the minimal blueprint. More label spots imminent.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

George and Sam. George, my mum always closes her eyes when she's having her photo taken.

Karl robot dancing and repairing hardware in the heat of the moment.

George, your foul-mouthed host, and Sam.

Holly and Phil from "The Scene."

Tourette’s Can Afflict Us All

Yesterday was the first full broadcast day for 209 Radio from our new premises, The Howard Mallett Centre in Cambridge. My guests were Sam, organiser and resident dj at the Priory, and Priory promoter George. We arrived around an hour before we were due to go on air. Phil and Holly were busy seamlessly presenting “The Scene,” so we relaxed and I took a few photos. Little did we know what carnage would soon erupt around us.

We took to the studio a little before 7 pm to get a feel for the place. The familiar surroundings of Karl’s living room had been replaced by the more pressurised, but ultimately more professional environment of the broadcasting studio. The show started well, and came together seamlessly for the most part. I made the competition questions as awkward-sounding as possible, (translations at the end of this article), but apart from that, and Sam’s sweaty palms, the show was going swimmingly.

Then all hell broke loose. I’d already loaded the cd containing James’ (The Fish, and Sam’s Priory djing partner) mix for the second hour of the show. However, on coming back to look at the cd display and to pfl (pre fade listen) the cd to check the levels, I saw that the display read “no disc.” Stress crept out from nowhere and myself, George and Sam began frantically looking for the missing cd, turning everything over in the studio in the process. The problem was that I’d absent-mindedly left the microphone channel open and anyone listening could hear me putting Gordon Ramsay to shame in the swearing steaks as we searched high and low for the missing medium.

Pete from Loop Soup had just come back from playing some gigs in Greece and switched on his computer. He phoned the station to tell us what was happening. Karl appeared at the studio door, ashen-faced, pointing at the mixing desk and open mic channel. Emmanuelle, my partner, was listening at home, and my kids were rolling around the floor laughing at my pain. Needless to say we quickly brought the whole episode to a hasty close, but were was the cd?

Well, the cd player, compressors, etc, are all set up on an angled rack at around 15 degrees. What had happened was the cd had actually slipped back over the sliding door and into the mechanism of the player. Luckily I had enough records to keep us sailing on an even keel, so while Karl opened up the player to extract the cd, I played on. Nero came to mind. You couldn’t make it up.

As soon as Karl got the disc and rebolted the cd player, he put the disc back in to play, and guess what happened? Yep, I went to open the cd tray again and nothing came out. It had slipped into the machine again. We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Karl had to go through the whole sorry process again. I got to complete my impromptu mini-mix on the station’s new decks, which were fine, and that was that. Of such events are broadcasting history made, but I do feel a bit of a tit. To compound my evening, my bus didn’t turn up, I got soaked, and had to shell out £13 for a cab. I was seriously pissed off when I got home.

Monday, May 01, 2006

The ramblings of a madman . . .

So, we left Cambridge at the ungodly hour of 8:30 am on our way to fair Londinium. As I type this, more than 24 hours after, I have just fragmentary memories of yesterdays shenanigans. Anyway, things looked momentous from the moment we left, with certain individuals not having slept the night before and being determined to carry on under the condition that sundry substances were shovelled down their respective gullets. I spoke to lots of complete strangers on the bus, which was nice. I also ate my last morsel of the day at around 11 am, a toasted chicken balti ciabatta with a mango, passion fruit and orange juice. The healthiest thing to pass my lips all day.

Once on the boat technical matters threatened to hold us up, but thankfully these were ironed out quite quickly and the tomfoolery commenced in earnest. I was determined to keep control, so I swore an oath to pace myself in order to feel fresh for Derrick May at the Soul Tree later on. And that’s it really. It was nice on the boat, good atmosphere, good tunes generally and a party atmosphere, which is how it should be. You’re not going to these events to chin stroke are you? I bumped into a lad I see most days getting on my bus to work, never spoken to him before, but we had a chat and of course I’ll be sure to ignore him when he gets on as usual tomorrow morning.

As the afternoon drew to a close, it clouded over on the river and started to get a bit breezy. We went all the way to the estuary, so everyone was keeping an eye out for a whale coming back upriver. By this time I was so wasted I was seriously calling into question the idea of going out later on, but I’d luckily made arrangements that I couldn’t back out of. Battered and bruised on the bus, I was an easy target for drug jabberers. I had my ears chewed off by two blokes in quick succession. One was a company director and epitomised reserved middle England. When he found out I was older than him he couldn’t believe it. I have that effect on people occasionally. The next guy was very friendly, a nice bloke, but I couldn’t understand half of what he was saying. He also started smoking on the bus, an unforgivable offence that, when reprimanded, turned him all childlike and contrite. It never occurred to me to stop him rolling up and I was nearly as surprised as him when he was told off for it. It wass around this time though, that I got my second wind.

Arriving in Cambridge at around 8:15, I was corralled into the Cow were Karl and the 209 Radio massive were all in attendance for his birthday bash, which would be finished off in fine style by Mr May about 7 hours later. Robert met me in the bar and I started hitting the Jack Daniels and cokes, as well as something else. Suddenly I started to feel extremely animated and was buzzing around chatting to everybody. We stayed in the bar foe a couple of hours, going into the Soul Tree around 10:30. It filled up steadily. Largo played a completely different, and better, set from what he’d played earlier on on the boat. Jim Masters took things up a notch, so by the time Derrick May appeared, we were at boiling point. Derrick then went on to slay us with a set of sonic mastery, exclusively vinyl-based, I didn’t see him use any cds. I tried to say hello, and he was more tolerant of my sorry state than I thought. He liked my t-shirt, with the portrait of Giorgio Moroder on it, but he thought it was Frank Zappa.

This was easily the best night out I’ve had in Cambridge. Admittedly, the standard hasn’t been particularly high, but activity over the past few months has been more intense than usual. I hope this is the beginning of some intense clubbing activity.

About Me

Cacophonous Bling

Review/Feedback Policy

No star or grading system. Everything reviewed on this blog has been done so without having first listened to the release. I think this is one way to remain impartial. Feedback will be stated as such and should not be viewed as a full review, just an impression.